Thank you so much for all the uplifting and encouraging comments so many of you left for me on this post. I have read them over and over and am so thankful to have so many supportive friends in real life and in blogland. We are hanging in there, taking one day at a time. I’m so sorry that so many of you are also experiencing something similar. It’s so sad and I pray things turn around soon.

Now more than ever we will need to get tight with our grocery budget so I’ll be actively looking for ways to do just that. First and foremost I’ll be trying to use up stock from the pantry and freezer because you never know if moving is right around the corner for us. So this week’s menu is designed around what we have in the house to use up.

The Apple Cinnamon Pork Tenderloin didn’t really work out for me last week. I had no idea what cooking apples were so just used some Gala apples that we had in the house. They didn’t create any juice at all. Once I added some apple juice though it turned out okay but I’m not sure I’d make it again.

For those that don’t know who Stephanie is, she is the one who runs the fabulous A Year of Slow Cooking blog. Last year she committed to using her slow cooker every day for the entire year. Some of her recipes we’ve tried and enjoyed from her site in the past are Salsa Chicken and Black Bean Soup and Brown Sugar Chicken, both of which are also in the cookbook. So many great slow cooker recipes all in one place, super easy too and as a side note Stephanie’s recipes are also gluten free for those following a gluten free diet as I do with my son.

The only downfall of the book is that there are no pictures included but Stephanie’s reasoning behind that was to keep the cost of the book down. It retails for only $14.99 and includes over 300 recipes! Stephanie has pictures on her website though of many of the dishes if you like to see a picture of the finished product. I definitely think this book would make a terrific Christmas gift!

I’m new here at MPM! I linked back to your blog. I’m excited to start menu planning! It’s so funny that you talked about Stephanie’s book~Make it fast, cook it slow in this weeks MPM. About 5 minutes ago I was just looking at her blog! Thanks so much for putting this together for all of us.

Laura~ I somehow missed your post the other day about your husband’s job loss. I am so sorry. My husband lost his job, almost a year and a half ago now. We like to say we’re self-employed now:) And we are! But it has been such a tough season for us and yet we have learned amazing lessons through it all. While we did not have any kind of a huge salary before our job loss, we have learned how much it really was and how much we can actually live on. I am ashamed at the money we wasted before and when/if we ever do have a regular paycheck again I know we will be so much wiser with our spending. I have to say that menu planning has been on of our greatest blessings through this time. It keeps me focused and not wasteful and we still have delicious meals w/out spending near what we used to spend in groceries. Thank you for introducing me to menu planning~I LOVE it! I pray that during this next season of your lives that your family will be drawn closer and that you will grow from it all and be blessed in ways that you cannot imagine now.

Laura, I’m so sorry to hear about your hubby’s job! That doesn’t make for a very comfortable holiday season. I am glad you have a little notice. Perhaps he will be able to bounce quickly into another job.

I just went back and read your post about the notice of your husband’s job ending. I am so sorry to hear that. I know how you feel. We live in Michigan and so many of the auto plants have shut down and thousands are without jobs here. So, thirfty cooking has become a major lifestyle with me. I’m going to have to check out that cookbook. I love to use the crockpot especially now that cooler weather is here! Hope you have a wonderful week!

I can’t wait to get the cookbook. I love that blog! Menu looks great. I’m going back to my Jamie Oliver pizza dough after trying another that was a mess. Ugh.

Roasted pork sometimes turns out blah for me. When I do BBQ it’s fine but I haven’t found that many roast pork loin or tenderloin recipes that end up wowing me. I have a lot of it in my freezer so I hope I can think of something. I love pork tenderloin on the grill.

Laura Sorry to hear your news. It’s been a tough year for a lot of folks and your menus and organizing ideas are a big help. I just got Stephanie’s book on Saturday and will treat myself today with a cup of tea and a good look through. Hope to incorporate some recipes next week.

I don’t usually comment, but I love your blog. You have an insightfulness that I’m sure will help you manage through this difficult situation. I hope you have a better week this week than last week. =)

Last year, my husband’s small company, which he runs, went from about 9 full-time employees to himself and two others, getting paid whenever they had work come in. God has been so good to us, as the work came in right when it was needed. Without the support of our dear family and our church, we would have not made it. We’ve learned to live by only buying things we needed, not things we wanted, as well, we took a class at our church from Dave Ramsey, and learned how to pay off our bills, live on a budget, etc. I would encourage anyone to take his class or a similar one. At the time this happened to us, with the down-turn in the economy, I told friends I was afraid we were the tip of the iceberg in our country, and we have seen that to be true. God bless you all. Praying for you as I read your blog each day.

Good luck with your husband’s job situation. My husband has been out of work for about 9 months (although he had some temporary work in there, thank God). He just got an official part-time job that pays better than unemployment (the hourly rate is much better than the last job he had), so we count ourselves blessed for that.

I think Stephanie’s book would be a great Christmas gift based on the recipes she posted over the last year.

I’m so sorry about your husband’s job situation. My husband is a paint contractor who has been in business for himself for the past 2 1/2 years. The economic downturn has been extremely difficult on us, as he has been without work much more than he has painted for over a year now.

Keep your chins up… you will come through on the other side. I hope to be there with you!

So far I’m having baked pork loin chops and veggies for Monday. Chicken tortilla casserole with black beans on Tues. I’ll try to blog this one cuz it’s a favorite of mine that I made up after coming up with the idea after making tortillas with hamburger. Sometimes I’m in the kitchen thinking of doing something different with the food and my adult daughter says…oh no, just feed me. Don’t go messing with the food.. It’s a joke since I’ve been more creative lately. “-)

Wow…must be the season for beans and tomatoes cuz there’s been sales on canned beans, like black, kidney, pinto beans and tomato sauce and tomatoes, like sliced or diced or Italian. Good time to stock up. I’ve got a good stock of it now.

I love GOOD crock pot recipes. I love using mine! As long as there is not a TON of pre-prep work; because I’m usually tossing it in and dashing out the door to work. Easy peasy is my favorite type recipes to go in the all day cooker.